Change Management Software

Numerous models have been made available to understand the transition of individuals via phases pertaining to change management as well as having strengthened initiative of organizational development in both, corporate and government sectors.

Unfreeze-change-freeze

An easy going model relating to change which has been developed by ‘Kurt Lewin’ went on to describe change in the form of a 3-stage process. The 1st stage was called ‘unfreezing’ by him. It involved having overcome inertia and dismantled existing mindset. Bypassing of defence mechanisms is required. The change takes place in the 2nd stage. It’s conventionally a transitioning and confusing period. Old ways have been challenged time and again. However, there hasn’t been clear picture for having replaced them with. Lewin called 3rd and last stage ‘freezing’. It has been referred to as ‘refreezing’ by the other people.

The novel mindset has been crystallizing and comfort levels of one are being returning to the previous levels. Rosch has argued that such a 3-quoted version of approach of Lewin is nothing but an oversimplification. He has also stated that theory stated by Lewin was, in actual sense, more complicated. Moreover, it had been owned more towards Physics as compared to behavioural science.

Theorists, however, have preferred to remain resolute with regards to their interpretations concerned with ‘force field model’. Such a 3-stage approach towards change has also been adopted by ‘Hudges’. He has made references to ‘exit’, i.e. having departed from existing state, ‘transit’, having crossed unknown territory, and ‘entry’, i.e. having attained new-fangled equilibrium. Hanna and Tannenbaum in the year 1985 went on to suggest a process pertaining to change where movement has been from homeostasis as well as holding on, via dying, letting go, to ‘moving on from rebirth’. Even after having elaborated the entire process to 5 stages, Judson has proposed a linear-staged model regarding implementation of change. The main topics of this model include planning and analysis of change, communication of change, having gained acceptanceof novel behaviours, having changed from status quo up to desired change, and having consolidated and institutionalised new state.

Kubler-Ross

Certain theories relating to change have been based on the derivatives of Kubler-Ross model, that too, from the book ‘On Death and Dying’ by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Various stages concerned with model of Kubler-Ross go on to describe emotional and personal states typically encountered by a person while having dealt with the loss of loved one. The derivatives of the model which have been applied in the other settings like workplace go on to show that emotional states of this kind can be encountered as the individuals get confronted with the thing called ‘change’.

‘Change’ formula

A ‘Formula For Change’ had been developed by David Gleicher and Richard Beckhard. At times, it’s called ‘Gleicher’s Formula’. This Formula goes on to illustrate that mixture of futuristic vision, organizational dissatisfaction, and the probability of tactical and immediate action should be stronger in comparison with resistance within organization for having obtained meaningful changes for having occurred.

ADKAR

ADKAR model pertaining to change management on the individual basis had been developed by ‘Prosci’, that too, with input through > 1000 organizations existing in 59 countries in all. The model stated above goes on to describe 5 building blocks that are needed for being realized successfully. ADKAR model’s building blocks are inclusive of awareness regarding the need for change, desire to have supported and participated in change, knowledge of the way to change, ability to have implemented novel behaviours and skills, and reinforcement to have sustained the change.

Change management on the organizational level

Change management on the organizational level is inclusive of tools and processes for having managed peoples’ side regarding change at the organizational level. Such tools are inclusive of structured approach which needs of being used for transitioning organizations or groups via change. When having combined with the understanding of change management on the individual level, such tools go to provide framework to manage peoples’ side, as far as change is concerned.

Processes related to change management at organizational level are inclusive of techniques to create strategy of change management, i.e. readiness assessments, building awareness regarding requirement of change, i.e. communications, developing knowledge and skills for supporting change, i.e. training and education, aiding employees in having moved through transition, i.e. coaching by supervisors and managers, and methods for having sustained the change, i.e. measurement systems, reinforcement, and rewards.

Dynamic conservatism

This model designed by ‘Donald Schon’ goes to explore organizzations’ inherent nature for being conservative as well as have themselves protected from incessant change. Increasing need owing to increasing pace (of change) has been recognized by Schon. This process needs to become more flexible, as stated by Schon. It’s, in fact, a kind of ‘learning’ process.

“Change”, in the corporate world, generally refers to an overall restructuring or remodeling, or on a broader basis, any alteration on a large scale. The definition of “change management,” can be classified into four parts:

1. The task of managing change.
2. An professional practice area.
3. A body of knowledge.
4. A control mechanism.

“Change management” has been successfully implemented in the corporate world. The effect of “change management” in industrial plants certainly deserves a closer look.

Change Management in Industrial and Professional Practice

Some experts in change management claim that they can help clients in managing changes that are faced by them – while there are others who claim that the clients can do it themselves with their help. Then there are those who can help a client in managing the essential changes. However in almost all cases, the actual change process is treated separately from the exact situation. Those who are change management professionals are able to bring in this change that is essential for proper business management.

Industrial plants are highly expert systems and they need to be classified into broad groups: Some are in the manufacturing business, while others are in retail, and then there are those who are into distribution. Some businesses are into profit making while there are those that are not into this. Some of them are private, and others are public sector enterprises. Some businesses are into automobiles wherein they are referred to as the makers of original equipment or OEM or are after-market suppliers. There are even a few in the health care sector either as the insurer or as the insured. While most of them are regulated, but some of them are not. Similarly, for many businesses the competition is stiff, while in others it is not the case. Some of these companies are internationally owned and some of them are located outside the country. The organization structure too differs from corporations to proprietorships to partnerships. Some of these businesses are quite old and some of them are new. In some cases, some of them have taken years to reach where they are now, while others came through by means of acquisitions and mergers.

There is content and a process dimension in the change problems that most of the companies face. It has much to do with the nature and the organization structure of the company. For example, a change in the way the claims processing department works in a health insurer that is organized and a similar change in another insurer who is product-line wise market segment organized will be different. No two people are the same, and so, no two companies can also adapt to the same change solution. But even then, the actual change process may still be the same. This basic similarity across all types of organization in various industries is what makes change management a process and a task and a professional practice.

Where the person is placed in an organization and his designation becomes important in the scale and the type of change he becomes involved with and the kind of change he has to be responsible for. Because of this, the concerns also change. Those who are in systems are concerned about technological developments and technology, those in marketing worry about the needs of the customer and the competition, and those in charge of legal affairs concern themselves with the various legalities. More senior people often have to deal with a range of issues concerning the change.

Adaptation problems are often the most common change related problems as the change is going to affect the circumstances with which people were accustomed for long. In companies such as IBM and AT&T the changes that were administered were far-reaching and deep and so these companies must have gone through these problems.

Change management basically focuses on means rather than on ends. The companies in which the change is successful normally deals with all these issues quite early including the people and the functional coordination’s. Since what is to be achieved has already been decided, the people have to adapt to the changes. But this is difficult at times and this is when we come across people who try to stop the changes from taking place.

Even small changes can be sensitive particularly when the processes are complicated. That is why the change in the industry needs to be managed properly. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA has regulated how changes are to be documented and made in the US. The change needs to be properly reviewed by a team comprising of various sources and in the review process, all the viewpoints needs to be considered – this will ensure that the chance of a hazard is minimized. This is where change management is also referred to as MOC or “Management of Change”.

The survival of corporate firms largely depends on the quality of products it manufactures. However, there is much more to making a product profitable than simply ensuring that the product itself is of good quality. The launching of a new product in the market, the announcement of the arrival of a good in the near future, the release of the item – all these actions have to be carefully monitored in order to make a product launch a success.

There are numerous literary works dealing with corporate strategies of releasing a product in the market. However, in addition to these theoretical guidelines a Product Manager needs to be pro-active in order to successfully announce the launch of a new item. Some of the major issues that Product Managers should always consider before releasing a product are:

• Date of Launch: Before announcing a particular release date, managers have to be doubly confident that the product can make its way in the market. Even when no particular date is announced, managers should ensure that his potential customers have a rough idea of the time around which the product arrives in the market.
• Developing Internal PR Rapport: Being a Product Manager on the verge of releasing a new product does not necessarily mean everyone backs the product. The manager should use company bulletins, the Intranet, meet people, call up and attend team meetings to provide updates on what his product is all about. It helps the CEO/CFO of the firm understand the product-nature clearly, apart from providing information to other colleagues.
• Product Briefing to Sales personnel: A Product Manager has to ensure that the sales people, who would be doing the actual interaction with the customers, fully understand the product’s nature and are aware of all its facilities. This would certainly help them in selling the product better.
• Selecting Product Experts: Product Managers hardly, if ever, personally enter into negotiations with the customers of a product; this is the job of the sales team. In such a scenario, it would really help if one leader is chosen from the sales team who would be specially chosen to be trained about the product’s features. A free trial can also be given to this “product expert”, so that he can provide more information about the product to the customers.
• Questions & Feedback: The Product Manager need to be available for communication with frontline sales people and other persons related to the product. He should ideally ask for product feedbacks from as many internal personnel as possible. This would help to know if there have been any glaring faults in the product or gaping holes in the information flow regarding the product.

Thus, we find that the task of a product manager is manifold, even before his product(s) hits the market. Indeed, careful designing of pre-product launch strategies is a specialized job, and the person who has to monitor the entire strategy-making process before the product releases is called the Release Manager.

In the field of software engineering and software releases, Release Management is the new and popular concept, gainining rapidly in importance.

Release Managers, typically, have to face some challenges that need to be overcome before he can release a product. Some such issues facing the Release Manager are:

1. Software defects
2. Software Change Requests
3. Risks and other issues related to product launch
4. New Development Tasks
5. Packaging responsibilities,
6. Addition of new features ( new development requests)
7. Deployment and Organizational Politics

Indeed, the role of a Release Manager is pretty complex, with a host of responsibilities that comes with the profile. A Release Manager has to act as a:

• Facilitator – in order to ensure smooth and timely delivery of products and updates and a point of contact among different business units.
• Gatekeeper – in order to know everything about product technologies and their implementation, and be responsible for their performance.
• Server Application Support Engineer – Although the release manager need not be proficient in coding programs, he should be able to troubleshoot relevant applications.
• Coordinator – in order to be able to bring different teams, experts, theories, solutions in a single project study.

Release Managers are the one who are in full charge of the Software Development Cycle. Software systems management are, typically, a cycle of development, testing and release. These processes are complex, and adding to the intricacies are the complicated platforms on which these softwares are run. The task of helping all the components of software to blend seamlessly is the sole responsibility of the Release Manager.

The Release Manager needs to be aware of all components of a product launch process – something that a simple project manager might not be able to do. Every aspect of the Software Development Cycle should be in his knowledge, and he should be responsible for the “grand blue-print” of launching a product.